Biography
I am a postdoctoral researcher at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), Erasmus University. My scholarly work lies at the nexus of migration, gender, and urban studies, with a particular thematic focus on the sociocultural, economic, and political transformations and mobilities since the 1990s. My research extends beyond geographical confines yet remains rooted in my homeland regions of Central Asia and MENA.
I hold a BA in English Literature from Selcuk University, an MA in Cultural Studies from Sabanci University, and an MA in Sociology and Social Anthropology from Central European University. I completed a PhD in Sociology from Northeastern University, where I focused and researched post-1990s labor migration from Central Asia to Turkey.
Between 2021 and 2024, I worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Sabanci University Women and Gender Studies Center of Excellence in the EU Horizon 2020 ReROOT project (2021-2025). In this project, I analyzed the role of “arrival infrastructures” in facilitating the (urban) integration of newly arrived migrants in Turkey. I am currently working in the Ancestral Citizenship in Europe project led by Dr. Zeynep Kaşlı, investigating the intersections of kin-state citizenship and migration within the European context.
